Sentro Rizal Washington DC Spotlights “Rizal: The Hero As Traveler” in 1st Anniversary
Professor Ambeth R. Ocampo delivers a presentation entitled “Rizal: The Hero as Traveler” during the 1st year anniversary celebration of Sentro Rizal Washington DC on 10 June 2019. (Washington PE photo)
WASHINGTON, D.C. 18 June 2019 — “It is not a question of forgetting or moving on, it is moving forward not being imprisoned by history. And this is what Rizal taught us, to be liberated from history and to find and create a new world that is better not only for the Philippines but for everyone else.”
This is how Professor Ambeth R. Ocampo concluded his very informative and engaging presentation entitled “Rizal: The Hero as Traveler” during the first anniversary celebration of Sentro Rizal-Washington D.C. in the evening of 10 June 2019 at the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C.’s Chancery Annex.
Speaking in front of a full house crowd, Professor Ocampo talked about the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, and how he was formed by his exposure to other lands, peoples, and cultures.
“When we think about it again, this is all that I am teaching you, giving you a sense of how I do my work and how important it is – It is just to make Rizal relevant to our lives again, and to make these people know Rizal because to know Rizal is to know what it is like to be Filipino,” said Professor Ocampo.
“It is also important to recognize in Rizal our own capacity for greatness,” he further emphasized.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel G. expressed the Embassy’s appreciation to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and to the US-Philippines Society whose support and cooperation made the event possible.
“Sentro Rizal has become the platform for showcasing outstanding Filipino talents as well as telling various Filipino and Filipino-American success stories. And the Philippine Embassy through Sentro Rizal plans to continue and expand these efforts, and hopefully reach wider audiences, present more of the vibrant Filipino culture, and introduce remarkable Filipino and Filipino-American artists in the next few years,” Ambassador Romualdez said.
“This center, this place, is where Filipino-Americans and Filipinos come to learn much more about the Philippines and tonight has been an opportunity for that. The US-Philippines Society is so happy to have participated in this event,” US-Philippines Society president Ambassador John Maisto said in his closing remarks.
Sentro Rizal-Washington D.C. is the 30th branch of the Sentro Rizal, which was recognized by virtue of Section 42 of the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, which specifies a center “whose main purpose is the promotion of Philippine arts, culture and language throughout the world.”
Professor Ocampo is a public historian whose research covers the late 19th century Philippines: its art, culture, and the people who figure in the birth of the nation. He is Associate Professor and former Chairman of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of History, and served as NCCA Chairman from 2005 to 2007, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Chairman from 2002-2011, and President of the Philippine Historical Association.
He has published over 30 books, writes a widely read Editorial Page column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and moderates a growing Instagram and Facebook fan page. END
Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez (left) and US-Philippines Society president Ambassador John Maisto (right) awards the Certificate of Appreciation to Professor Ocampo at the conclusion of his presentation “Rizal: The Hero as Traveler” on 10 June 2019. (Washington PE photo)
A full house crowd from the Filipino-American community of Washington D.C. attended the first anniversary celebration of Sentro Rizal Washington D.C. on 10 June 2019. (Washington PE photo)
Professor Ocampo fields questions from the audience after his presentation. (Washington PE photo)
US Philippines Society President Ambassador John Maisto delivers the closing remarks during the 1st anniversary celebration of Sentro Rizal Washington DC on 10 June 2019. (Washington PE photo)
Members of the Filipino-American community engage with Professor Ambeth R. Ocampo at the conclusion of the official program. (Washington PE photo)
For more information, visit www.washingtonpe.dfa.gov.ph, www.philippineembassy-usa.org, https://www.facebook.com/PHinUSA or https://twitter.com/philippinesusa